A 45-year-old securities lawyer from Selma, Sewell worked on Capitol Hill during college, for then–Democratic representative Richard Shelby. The seat she won was vacated by Artur Davis, who ran for governor.

Terri Sewell, Alabama Democrat Photograph by Chris Leaman

The district attorney, 58, is only the third member of Congress ever elected from his hometown of Quincy; the first was John Quincy Adams. Keating’s new office in the Cannon building has a legacy, too: It was once JFK’s congressional office.

Bill Keating, Massachusetts Democrat Photograph by Chris Leaman

To win the seat once held by former speaker Dennis Hastert, Hultgren—a 44-year-old state senator, investment adviser, and evangelical Christian—had to beat Hastert’s son Ethan in the GOP primary.

Randy Hultgren, Illinois Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

The mayor of Hazleton, the town where he was born, Barletta, 54, became a national hero for Republicans when he passed the first municipal law against illegal immigration.

Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

A longtime auctioneer and real-estate agent in southwestern Missouri, Long, 55, has been voted the best auctioneer in the Ozarks for seven years straight.

Billy Long, Missouri Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

A onetime Dartmouth football star and lieutenant governor of Delaware, Carney, 54, won the seat vacated by Mike Castle, who lost the GOP Senate primary to Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell.

John Carney, Delaware Democrat Photograph by Chris Leaman

(Photographed with his wife, Lisa) The Dartmouth grad, 58, regained the House seat he’d held for 12 years after Paul Hodes, who’d defeated him in 2006, ran for the Senate.

Charlie Bass, New Hampshire Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

A onetime physician assistant and a Los Angeles native, Bass, 57, was the first African-American woman to lead a state assembly in the United States, taking the helm of California’s in 2008.

Karen Bass, California Democrat Photograph by Chris Leaman

Age: 59

Ann Marie Buerkle, New York Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

Age: 49

David Cicilline, Rhode Island Democrat Photograph by Chris Leaman

Age: 48

Chuck Fleishmann, Tennessee Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

Age: 40

Rob Woodall, Georgia Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

A lifelong resident of Corpus Christi, Farenthold, 49, hosted a conservative talk-radio show, Lago in the Morning, before announcing his candidacy. He met wife Debbie while at college when they were in line for tickets to a Jimmy Buffett concert.

Blake Farenthold, Texas Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

A surgeon from the Upper Peninsula, Benishek, 58—who has never held elected office—captured the seat held by Bart Stupak, the Democratic congressman whose objection to federal funding of abortion threatened to derail President Obama’s health-care initiati

Dan Benishek, Michigan Republican Photograph by Chris Leaman

The 59-year-old labor lawyer initially finished second to Charles Djou in a three-way May special election to fill the seat left open by Representative Neil Abercrombie’s resignation before she defeated Djou in November for the full term.

Colleen Hanabusa, Hawaii Democrat Photograph by Chris Leaman

A graduate of Indiana University, he won the seat of Mark Kirk, Illinois’s newly elected senator. Dold, 41, is an owner of Rose Pest Solutions, which began around 1860 and is the nation’s oldest pest-management company.